These are a family favorite and one of our mom’s absolute most brilliant recipes – gluten free or otherwise!! In this case, these gluten free chocolate crinkle cookies are a dream and a half and perfect for the holidays or for a year-round treat. These have a bit of a new twist on them, with more cocoa powder (and dutched!) than in the original Mama Lynn recipe, which give them a deeper chocolate flavor and a bit of a chew reminiscent of macarons that I just love. They’re also some of the easiest cookies on the blog, so as long as you have a few hours (the dough does need to chill before baking -don’t skip this step!), you’re all set. I’ve made them once already in my new little home in Oxford and shared them with friends for some easy winter goodies.
Tips for absolutely delicious gluten free chocolate crinkle cookies:
- Use Dutched cocoa powder! This is a serious note – do NOT use regular cocoa powder if you want, what I think, is the best version of this recipe. Dutched cocoa powder is regular, unsweetened cocoa powder that’s been processed with alkali to create a velvety, darker, smoooooth cocoa powder that creates absolutely magical baked goods.
- Chill the dough! Do not skimp on this! I usually make the dough the night before, cover it with plastic wrap, and chill in the fridge overnight (you can chill for a full day if you don’t have time to bake them until the next evening!).
- Roll them in powdered sugar until they’re TOTALLY covered – no brown showing – this will ensure that your cookies will be crinkley and have really clear, aesthetically pleasing crinkles.
- Let cool completely before removing from the cookie sheets – they should cool fairly quickly, but the cookies need to settle and firm up once they come out of the oven, so wait to remove from the trays until they’re completely cool.
If you’re also a chocolate fanatic like we all are, check out our chocolate shortbread, or chocolate mint shortbread, or chocolate-filled hazelnut cookies, these chocolate peanut butter sandwich cookies, or just go all in and make these chocolate raspberry cupcakes or this triple chocolate cake!
Gluten Free Chocolate Crinkle Cookies
Equipment
- Cookie sheets
Ingredients
For the cookie dough:
- 4 large eggs
- ½ Cup canola or vegetable oil
- 2 Cups white sugar 450g
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 ½ Cup dutched unsweetened cocoa powder 165g
- 1 Cup gluten free 1-1 flour mix with xanthan gum 170g or plus ½ tsp (1g) xanthan gum
- ½ Cup tapioca or arrowroot starch 75g
- 2 tsp baking powder 7g
- 1 tsp salt 6g
For construction:
- 2-3 cups powdered sugar
Instructions
- First, whisk together all of the dry ingredients (the dutched unsweetened cocoa powder, the gluten free 1-1 flour mix, the tapioca or arrowroot starch/flour, baking powder, and salt) in a medium bowl, and set aside. Then, in a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, oil, sugar, and vanilla until smooth and thicker. Add in the dry ingredients and stir together with a spatula or a wooden spoon until the dough is very thick and all the flour is fully combined. Then cover the dough with plastic wrap in the bowl, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight before baking.
- Once the dough has chilled and rested, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and line two cookie sheets with parchment paper. Grease the parchment with either room temp butter or cooking spray. Then pour the powdered sugar in a medium bowl for rolling your cookies in. Remove the cookie dough from the fridge and begin scooping scant tablespoons of dough and rolling them into 1-inch balls. Roll the balls in the powdered sugar so that each one is heavily coated, then place, 2 inches apart, on your cookie sheets.
- Do NOT flatten or press down the cookie balls, they will spread as they bake! Bake the cookies for 13-15 minutes – they should still be soft in the center but not sticky/wet (tap with your finger to check). Remove and let cool nearly completely before eating! These will last in an airtight container for up to a week or you can freeze them in plastic containers/bags and thaw when you want them!
Tag @sisterssansgluten on Instagram if you snap a photo of your cookies!
Food photography and styling by Amelia Farber
